Governor declares ten Iowa counties disaster areas

Governor Tom Vilsack has declared 10 Iowa counties along the Mississippi River state disaster areas. The move makes state resources available for the record or near-record flooding that’s predicted along the Mighty Mississippi. There’s no levy in downtown Davenport, there’s a whole lot of sandbagging going on. City crews delivered 141-thousand sandbags and sand to about 60 homes and businesses in downtown Davenport over the weekend. About 10 businesses along Riverfront Drive are banding together to try to build a long wall of sandbags. Darren Smiley works in an insurance agency, and he started organizing the wall building when he heard the River crest might reach 22 feet, which would be near the 1993 record. About 40 members of area high school football teams, the Quad City Steamwheelers’ Minor League Arena Football team and various church groups are filling sandbags today. Dee Bruemmer, Davenport’s public works director, says without a floodwall, there’s no other choice. Bruemmer says the community made a conscious decision to maintain a view of the river rather than build a big wall. Dubuque built a 30-foot-tall floodwall, and the River’s crest isn’t expected to top it. The Governor’s state disaster proclamation makes state resources available to the counties; for example, inmate labor’s being used to fill sandbags. The counties that’ve been declared a disaster are Allamakee, Clayton, Clinton, Des Moines, Dubuque, Jackson, Lee, Louisa, Muscatine and Scott Counties.There’s no arc — yet — for the animals that’ll be evicted from their Davenport home by floodwaters. Rising floodwaters are forcing the evacuation of the animals at the Scott County Humane Society. The shelter’s director says they hope to find a new home by Wednesday. She says a heated warehouse, with concrete floors, would be best.